Link Bubble Browser updated, ad blocking and tracking protection on board
Have you tried Link Bubble? It is definitely one of the most interesting browsers you will find in the Google Play Store. It’s hard to explain how the mechanics work, but I like to compare it to Facebook Messenger chat heads. Your browser pages will be accessible via a floating bubble that expands into a page, allowing you to multi-task freely while you wait for pages to load.
It’s a great browser and I happen to use it on the daily, but it is also not as complex as Chrome or Firefox. Things continue to improve, though, and the latest update brings a couple improvements we know many of you will love.
Also read:
For starters, Ad Block has been introduced and can be turned on from the Settings menu. This will help you save data and avoid looking at those pesky ads all the time. In addition, users can turn on tracking protection, which will keep your browsing safe and away from preying eyes.
Other additions include HTTPS Everywhere and your usual batch of bug fixes. The update’s version number is 1.8.1 and is now available from the Google Play Store, so just head over there and download the newest update. It’s free now, so there is no reason not to at least check it out. Also, please do hit the comments to let us know how well these features work!
‘Titanfall 2’ will have a real single-player campaign
Respawn hasn’t said much about its Titanfall sequel beyond plans for multi-platform support, but some details are starting to trickle out… and they’ll be good news for fans of the robot-slash-infantry shooter. In a chat with Forbes, head writer Jesse Stern notes that Titanfall 2 will have a real, honest-to-goodness single-player campaign when it arrives either late this year or early next. That’s not completely shocking given that the team didn’t have the resources to flesh out its solo game the first time around. Still, it’s reassuring if you were frustrated by the original’s barely-there offline experience, which really just amounted to AI matches with a sliver of story in between.
Also, the interview is a friendly reminder that Titanfall won’t be limited to the video game world. Lionsgate quietly revealed in July that it’s working with Respawn on a TV series, and the show is still in development. However, it’s a daunting challenge — as Stern says, a sci-fi series involving giant robots could be “very expensive.” Assuming the project comes together, you could be waiting a while to see the IMC and Militia fight outside of a video game.
Via: VentureBeat
Source: Forbes
Scientists decode the bedbug’s genes to help kill it
Just the very thought of bedbugs probably makes your skin crawl, and that’s made all the worse by their ability to adapt to new threats. Like it or not, that pesticide you used years ago probably doesn’t work any more. What to do? Genetics might just come to the rescue. Scientists have created the first full genome sequence for the bedbug in hopes of defeating its resistance to sprays and other attempts at extermination. You’d think this would have been easy (humans can sequence woolly mammoths, for goodness’ sake), but it wasn’t — the team had to compare bedbug genes from 1973 with present-day samples, and even the differences before and after the bugs had their blood meals.
The results might surprise you. Certain genes only manifest themselves after a meal, and they can vary not just from place to place, but between material types. Did you know that bedbugs found on benches have different genes than those on subway turnstiles? Critters within a given neighborhood will tend to share traits, but you could see significant changes as you go from district to district in a given city.
The discoveries might change pest control for good. Observers could better map infestations and find a way to cut off migrations before they create problems in other neighborhoods. Also, antibiotics that kill bedbug-friendly bacteria could be useful complements to pesticides. While it’s doubtful that you’ll ever be completely safe from bedbugs in urban environments, they might not be quite as much of a persistent nuisance as they are today.
Via: Gizmag
Google reportedly releasing a rival to Samsung’s Gear VR later this year
It’s no secret that Google is getting serious about VR. The company just recently created a new virtual reality division that would see Google VP Clay Bavor at the helm, and there has also been a recent push to get VR just about everywhere you look. Now it looks like Google is planning on releasing its own VR headset, at least if a recent report from The Financial Times proves true.
This new headset will be a more expensive successor to Cardboard, and will supposedly come with better sensors, lenses and a solid plastic casing, according to the report. The headset, which will launch later this year, will be a rival to Samsung’s Gear VR, where the user’s smartphone provides most of the power for the unit. As of now, Google Cardboard relies solely on sensors built into smartphones to detect the position of a user’s head, while this new Google headset will come with additional motion sensors that will make the VR experience much smoother.
See also: What is Virtual Reality, and what role will Android play?
.rvs_wrapper
width: 350px;
.rvs_wrapper.align_left
float: left;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right
float: right;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center,
.rvs_wrapper.align_none
width: 100%;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center
text-align: center;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center.cbc-latest-videos ul li
float: none;
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: top;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos:not(.align_none) ul li:nth-child(2n+1)
clear: both;
.rvs_title
font-weight: 600 !important;
margin: 0 !important;
font-size: 24px !important;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right .rvs_title
padding-left: 20px;
.rvs_title a
font-family: ‘Roboto Condensed’;
color: #3a3a3a;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul
padding-top: 10px;
.rvs_wrapper.align_left.cbc-latest-videos ul li,
.rvs_wrapper.align_none.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 15px 0 0;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 0 0 15px;
float: right;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 7px;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li > a
font-weight: 400;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li > a .yt-thumbnail
margin-bottom: 0;
@media only screen and (min-width : 480px)
body #page .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul
width: 100% !important;
@media only screen and (max-width : 480px)
body #page .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos
width: 100%;
float: none !important;
overflow-x: auto;
overflow-y: hidden;
body #page .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul
overflow: auto;
max-height: none;
body .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li
float: left !important;
clear: none !important;
The big news here isn’t the headset, though, it’s that Google will reportedly reveal its new Android VR technology as well. Android VR will bring VR compatibility directly to the Android operating system, which would allow developers to more easily write VR apps as well as greatly reduce latency.
According to the report, Google is likely to take a similar approach to the new headset and Android VR platform as it does with its Nexus devices. The flagship hardware will be able to show off the latest capabilities for the platform, while developers will be able to take advantage of the software to create their own VR products.
So when will be able to see this new headset for ourselves? Google hasn’t commented on these software or hardware rumors as of yet, but it’s not too farfetched to think we could see a preview of the technology at Google I/O 2016 in May. What are your thoughts? Are you excited to see virtual reality expand into Android, or are you not sold yet? Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments below.
Sony Xperia Z5 and Z5 Compact arrive in the US
As promised, Sony has brought its latest and greatest smartphones to the US. Both the Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact are now on sale in unlocked form through Amazon, Best Buy, B&H and other shops at respective prices of $599 and $499. Both pack a fair punch for the price between their Snapdragon 810 processors, 32GB of storage and 23-megapixel rear cameras. The big differences are the displays (5.2 inches on the Z5 versus 4.6 on the Compact) and RAM (3GB versus 2GB). They should work nicely on AT&T, T-Mobile and other American networks that share their frequencies. However, you shouldn’t expect exactly the same phone that you’d get elsewhere — there’s a catch.
Unlike the versions for other countries, neither of the US-oriented models has a fingerprint sensor tucked under the power button. That won’t matter too much using Android 5.1, which you get out of the box, but it could matter more when either Z5 variant receives Android 6.0 and its native support for finger-based authentication. They’re still solid phones, and the Z5 Compact is one of the few small-but-powerful Android phones you can find — just know that you’ll still be entering PIN codes or patterns for a while.
Source: Amazon (Xperia Z5), (Z5 Compact), Sony
AIVAnet 